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☆ Pakistan says Taliban forces building 'unlawful' structure in border dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Trucks loaded with supplies to leave for Afghanistan are seen stranded at the Michni checkpost, after the main Pakistan-Afghan border crossing closed after clashes, in Torkham, Pakistan September 7, 2023. The Torkham border crossing between the neighbouring nations has been closed since Wednesday after forces from both sides exchanged fire, stranding hundreds of trucks laden with goods and thousands of travellers. The Taliban administration foreign ministry at the weekend criticised the closure of the border and said Pakistan security forces had fired on its troops when they were fixing an old security outpost near the border. Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades. The Taliban administration denies it allows the use of Afghan soil for militancy and says Pakistan's security is an internal matter for the Pakistani government.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Charlotte Greenfield, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghan, Torkham, Rights ISLAMABAD, Taliban

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan is the world’s fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, a report from the United Nations drug agency said Sunday. The report called Afghanistan’s meth manufacturing a growing threat to national and regional health and security because it could disrupt the synthetic drug market and fuel addiction. It said seizures of meth suspected to have come from Afghanistan have been reported from the European Union and east Africa. Afghanistan also has the ephedra plant, which is not found in the biggest meth-producing countries: Myanmar and Mexico. But you need a lot of it.”Me said it was too early to assess what impact the Taliban’s drug crackdown has had on meth supplies.

Persons: Angela Me, ”, Abdul Mateen Qani, “ Organizations: United, Taliban, United Nations ’ Office, Drugs, European Union, Associated Press, Interior Ministry, AP, Farmers Locations: ISLAMABAD, Afghanistan, United Nations, Africa, Myanmar, Mexico, Afghan

☆ Pakistan's interim PM says Saudi Arabia to invest $25 bln over next five years
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

There was no immediate response to a Reuters request to the Saudi Arabian government for comment on Kakar's remarks. If confirmed, a series of investments worth $25 billion would be the biggest ever by the kingdom in Pakistan. Pakistan's state owned enterprises have long been an area of concern with bleeding financials adding to financial stress. Recently Pakistan added struggling state-run Pakistan International Airlines to the privatisation list again. Reporting by Gibran Peshimam; Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh; Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, Kakar, Gibran Peshimam, Aziz El Yaakoubi, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, International Monetary Fund, Barrick Gold Corp, Pakistan's, Barrick, Pakistan International Airlines, Thomson Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Saudi Arabian, Riyadh, Balochistan

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court on Wednesday extended the jail custody of former prime minister Imran Khan for 14 days to investigate him on charges of leaking state secrets, his lawyer said. A court suspended that sentence on Tuesday and said Khan could be released on bail, but he was barred from leaving as he was still under remand in the official secrets case. His top aide, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has already been arrested and questioned in the case. Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Naeem Panjutha, Khan, Khan's, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asif Shahzad, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Attock, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Washington

"We feel that the applicant is entitled to the suspension of sentence and be released on bail," it said. Khan's lawyer Naeem Panjutha also announced the suspension on social media, saying "God be praised." Nor will the suspension of the corruption sentence undo the ban on Khan's contesting elections as long as the conviction remains. STATE SECRETSPakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. The possible overturning of Khan's graft conviction is pending a detailed hearing in the court, according to a lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii.

Persons: Khan, Imran, Khan's, Naeem Panjutha, Imran Khan, Mohsin Raza, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, Jaferii, abetment, Zulfikar Bukhari, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Ariba Shahid, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: ISLAMABAD, Reuters, REUTERS, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Lahore, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Washington, Islamabad, Karachi

☆ Imran Khan’s 3-Year Sentence Is Suspended by Pakistan Appeals Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An appeals court in Pakistan suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s three-year prison sentence on Tuesday, the latest twist in a political showdown between Mr. Khan and leaders of the powerful military establishment who appear intent on sidelining him from politics. Mr. Khan had been arrested earlier this month after a trial court gave him the three-year term in a corruption case — a sentence that the Islamabad High Court suspended on Tuesday after an appeal by Mr. Khan’s legal team. It was not immediately clear on what grounds the court had suspended the sentence, or whether he would be promptly released from prison. The possibility that Mr. Khan could remain behind bars or be rearrested after he is released looms over him. He faces dozens of court cases, part of what he and his allies have characterized as a coordinated effort by the military to keep him out of politics.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan Organizations: Court Locations: Pakistan, Islamabad

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pauses as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court dismissed murder abetment charges against former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, his lawyer said, providing some relief for the cricket hero turned politician who was jailed on corruption charges earlier this month. Khan had been charged in June with abetting the murder of Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Razzaq, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the southwestern city of Quetta in the same month. Razzaq's son had accused Khan of being behind his father's murder. The political turmoil has caught Pakistan while the country has been struggling through one of its worst economic crises.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Razzaq's, Naeem Panjutha, wasn't, Razzaq, Asif Shahzad, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Quetta, Islamabad

☆ How Children Stranded for 15 Hours in a Dangling Cable Car Were Rescued
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—During the first hour they were stranded in a broken cable car this week, the six children and two adults dangling 1,000 feet in the air had no way of speaking to their families because the cellphone signal was down in their remote part of northern Pakistan.

Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Children receive first aid after they were rescued from the stranded chairlift, in Battagram, Pakistan August 22, 2023. "I can't tell you what we experienced yesterday when one cable of the cable car suddenly snapped and we were stranded in the air," said Faraz, who at 20 years old was the only adult aboard, and the only person with a cell phone. The journey by cable car usually took just a matter of minutes, whereas travelling on the rough mountain roads and tracks takes hours. "Our first priority was to secure the children," caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said, describing the feat as "near impossible". Those prayers were answered for Faraz and the children.

Persons: Gul Faraz, Faraz, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Kakar, Mushtaq Ali n, Asif Shahzad, Simon Cameron, Moore, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Commandos, Geo, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Battagram, Pakistan, PESHAWAR, Jhangri, Battangi, Karachi, Mushtaq Ali n Peshawar, Islamabad

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Battling anxiety and nausea, they huddled together in the ruptured cable car, gripped by fear as they dangled precariously hundreds of feet in the air. A soldier slings down from a helicopter during a rescue mission to recover students stuck in a cable car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan on August 22. As they waited to be rescued, two of the students in the cable car were slipping in and out of consciousness, one of the passengers told Pakistani outlet Geo News. Battagram district, where the cable car is located, is deeply impoverished and lacks infrastructure and development. Last December, 12 children were rescued from another cable car in eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Persons: Tanveer Ur Rehman, “, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar Organizations: Pakistan CNN, AFP, Geo, Battagram, Twitter, Cable Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Batangi, Battagram, Battagram district

A currency trader counts Pakistani Rupee notes as he prepares an exchange of U.S dollars in Islamabad, Pakistan December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Pakistan's rupee closed at a record low of 299 rupees against the dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday following an easing in import restrictions that has lifted demand for the dollar, central bank data showed. Pakistan imposed import restrictions from 2022 to stem outflows from its shrinking foreign reserves. Traders said the rupee fell 0.6% to an intraday low of 299 against the dollar. "The declining trend is mainly attributable to the ease off in the import restrictions coupled with clearance of backlog for goods and services," he said.

Persons: Caren, Imran Khan, Tahir Abbas, Arif Habib, Ariba Shahid, Edwina Gibbs, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Monetary Fund, Traders, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Karachi

☆ Children stranded in chair lift 900 feet above ground in northern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Eight people, including six school children, were trapped in a malfunctioning chair lift in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, officials said, and a military helicopter has been dispatched to rescue them. The children, who have been stranded since about 6 a.m local time (0100 GMT), were using the chair lift to get to school in a mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Islamabad. "A cable broke in a chair lift service, following which people have been trapped 900 feet (274 metres) above the ground," Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. It said an army helicopter had been moved to the area for a rescue operation after attempts at fixing the fault had been unsuccessful. Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Asif Shahzad, Mushtaq Ali, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Disaster Management Authority, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Battagram, Islamabad, Peshawar

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —An urgent rescue effort is underway in Pakistan for eight children and two adults trapped in a chairlift dangling 1,200 feet over a mountainous region in the country’s northwest. Tanveer Ur Rehman, a local Battagram district official, said rescue efforts were being conducted from the ground due to the height of the chairlift system. “The chairlift is hanging 1,200 feet (365 meters) above ground,” he said. The chairlift connects two communities in the region and runs on two cables, one of which snapped, Faizi said. Many children who live in remote and mountainous parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rely on cable cars to ferry them to school and back.

Persons: Bilal Ahmad Faizi, Tanveer Ur Rehman, ”, Faizi, Anwar, Haq Kakar Organizations: Pakistan CNN, CNN Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have opened a criminal investigation against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets, after naming him and three aides in a fresh case, a top security source said on Monday. Khan is currently serving a three-year sentence in a graft case and has been barred from politics for five years. "Our investigation is collecting evidence to stand a case in a court to indict Imran Khan on charges of leaking official secrets," a security source, who is directly responsible for the investigation, told Reuters. Khan has formally been arrested in connection with the charges, which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is probing, the source said.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Rauf Hasan, Zulfi Bukhari, Arif Alvi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Intazar Panjutha, Asif Shahzad, Devika Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Both Washington, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Washington, U.S, Moscow, Ukraine, Both

☆ Bus crash in eastern Pakistan kills 18 people
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAHORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed after a bus crashed and caught on fire in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Sunday, authorities said. The bus collided with another vehicle in the early hours of the morning while carrying 33 passengers from the southern port city of Karachi to the capital, Islamabad. "The unfortunate bus ... collided with a mini-truck loaded with three small tanks of petrol at around 4.30 am," said Fahad Ahmad, the police chief of Punjab's Hafizabad district. "The bus and the truck caught fire immediately, the result of which 18 people including the mini-truck driver died on the spot." More than 40 people were killed in January after a bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in the southern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Sunday.

Persons: Fahad Ahmad, Mubasher Bukhari, Charlotte Greenfield, Kim Coghill Organizations: Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan's, Punjab, Karachi, Islamabad, Punjab's Hafizabad, Pakistan, Pakistani, Balochistan

☆ Pakistan's president refuses to sign new national security laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi speaks with Reuters in an interview after Pakistan's presidency was recognized as the world's first presidential secretariat running on clean energy, in Islamabad, Pakistan October 27, 2021. "As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws," Alvi said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned to the legislature within the stipulated time to make them ineffective. The ministry of law and justice said the president's decision was of "grave concern". "As the president didn't sign and return the bill within 10 days, it became a law," caretaker law minister Ahmad Iran told a news conference.

Persons: Arif Alvi, Pakistan's, Saiyna Bashir, Imran Khan's, Alvi, doesn't, didn't, Ahmad Iran, Murtaza Solangi, Solangi, Ariba Shahid, Susan Fenton Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Pakistan, Twitter, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Alvi, Imran Khan's Pakistan

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) office in Islamabad, Pakistan June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Salahuddin/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsKARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was detained on Saturday, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said, just hours after he said it would challenge any delay to the country's election in the courts. Party spokesman Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters the specific reason for the detention of Qureshi, twice Pakistan's foreign minister, was not immediately clear. The outgoing government approved a new census in its final days, meaning new electoral boundaries must be drawn up by the Election Commission. IMF BAILOUTThe election commission said on Thursday that new constituencies would be finalised by Dec. 14, state television reported.

Persons: Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Salahuddin, Zulfi Bukhari, Qureshi, Bukhari, Imran Khan, Khan, Haq Kakar, Ariba Shahid, Toby Chopra, Alison Williams Organizations: Pakistan's, Reuters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, REUTERS, Rights, PTI, IMF, Supreme, Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Karachi

The rioters were demanding that the two accused men, who had fled their homes, be handed over to them. The troops have cordoned off the Christian colony, blocking all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman. Hundreds of Christians took refuge in a nearby district, a community leader Akmal Bhatti told Reuters, adding that four pastors had returned to the churches, which were still smouldering. "It is the government's responsibility to compensate for the loss of property of the Christian community," he told reporters, adding the government was estimating the losses. The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Persons: Christian, Akmal Bhatti, Bhatti, Mohsi Naqvi, Vedant Patel, Asif Shahzad, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Police, Reuters, Amnesty, State Department, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, United States, Islamabad

CNN —Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province have arrested more than 100 people after crowds descended on churches and set them on fire on Wednesday, raising concerns over the discrimination faced by religious minorities in the country. At least 17 churches have been vandalized since Wednesday, according to the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), a Pakistani government body. The attacks took place after a Christian man was accused of committing blasphemy and desecrating the Quran. “According to NCHR inquiry, 17 Churches in #Jaranwala have been targeted. 12 registered churches and 5 smaller, unregistered churches,” NCHR posted on X, previously known as Twitter, on Thursday.

Persons: ” NCHR, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, “, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, ” Baloch, Riina Kionka, Prophet Mohammed, Asia Bibi Organizations: CNN, Authorities, National Commission for Human Rights, ” Ministry of Foreign, ” Police, PM, European Union Locations: Pakistan’s Punjab, Pakistani, Jaranwala, Punjab, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan, EU, Lahore’s Badami Bagh

The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds. A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had "torched" at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners. Several social media posts showed some churches, houses and belongings on fire as police stood by. The mob was made up of thousands of people led by local clerics, mainly from an Islamist political party called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a government source said.

Persons: Naveed Ahmad, Shakil Masih, Usman Anwar, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Akmal Bhatti, Asif Shahzad, Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad

[1/4] Taliban soldiers stand guard at the second-anniversary ceremony of the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023. Taliban parades were expected through the day and several departments, including the education ministry, held gatherings to celebrate. For many women, who enjoyed extensive rights and freedoms during the two decades of rule by Western-backed governments, their plight has become dire since the return of the Taliban. OBSTACLE TO RECOGNITIONGirls over the age of 12 have been mostly excluded from classes since the Taliban returned to power. For many Western governments, the ban is a major obstacle to any hope of formal recognition of the Taliban administration.

Persons: Ali Khara, Ashraf Ghani, Zabihullah Mujahid, Mujahid, It's, Amina Mohammed, Matiullah, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Charlotte, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Taliban, Islamic, U.S . Federal Reserve Bank of New, Swiss, Thomson Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, Ali Khara KABUL, U.S, Western, U.S . Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Charlotte Greenfield, Islamabad

CNN —An attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan was thwarted by Pakistan’s military, leaving two militants dead and the Chinese workers unharmed, police say. In a statement to CNN, the Baloch Liberation Army, a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan said it strongly condemned the attack and urged the Pakistani authorities to punish the perpetrators and do all it could to prevent further attacks. But in recent years terrorist attacks targeting Chinese nationals and their interests in Pakistan have alarmed Beijing. More than a dozen people were killed after a bus carrying Chinese engineers fell into a ditch following a “fiery explosion,” according to local police.

Persons: Chakar Baloch Organizations: CNN, Baloch Liberation Army, Embassy, Pakistan Economic, University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute, Confucius Locations: Balochistan, Chakar, Gwadar, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Beijing

☆ Pakistan senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar named caretaker PM ahead of vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A general view of the parliament building in Islamabad, Pakistan March 25, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File PhotoKARACHI, Pakistan Aug 12 (Reuters) - Pakistani senator Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar was named as caretaker prime minister to oversee national elections, the prime minister's office said on Saturday following a meeting between outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz. Reporting by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Anwaar, haq Kakar, Sharif, Raja Riaz, Gibran Peshimam, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, KARACHI

ISLAMABAD, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan's outgoing prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the leader of the opposition will on Thursday meet to pick a caretaker leader to oversee a general election due by November, a government official said. Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz will meet in the afternoon, said the official in the prime minister's office, who declined to be identified pending the announcement of the meeting. Under the constitution, the two have three days to reach agreement on a caretaker. If they can't, the decision will go to a parliamentary committee, and if it can't, then the Election Commission of Pakistan will decide. The lower house of parliament was dissolved on Wednesday, three days before the end of its five-year term on Aug. 12.

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, Sharif, Raja Riaz, Imran Khan, Asif Shahzad, Robert Birsel Organizations: Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

☆ Imran Khan Appeals Prison Sentence, Kicking Off High-Stakes Legal Battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The legal team for the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, appealed his three-year prison sentence on Wednesday, kicking off a high-stakes and hotly contested legal fight that will determine Mr. Khan’s future and the country’s political climate as it heads into general elections later this year. Mr. Khan was arrested and jailed on Saturday after being found guilty in a corruption case, the latest twist in a stunning downfall for the leader, who has been in a political showdown with the country’s powerful military since his ouster last year. His allies argue that the court verdict, which found him guilty of hiding assets after illegally selling state gifts, was little more than a politically motivated effort to sideline him. And for many Pakistanis, the spectacle of Mr. Khan’s imprisonment offered a striking reminder that the country’s military remains the ultimate and unmoving force behind Pakistan’s politics. In the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, his legal team argued that the conviction represented a violation of Mr. Khan’s “fundamental right to due process and fair trial” and said it was decided by a biased judge determined to convict him “irrespective of the merits of the case,” according to court documents.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan’s, Khan Organizations: Court Locations: Pakistan, Islamabad

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